Stone, J (2007).Accomplishing multiple goals through community connections. The Science Teacher. April/May, 28-32.
http://www3.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_teacher.php?category_ID=88&news_story_ID=53669
This article addresses the issue about the need for high school students to meet more than just content standard goals. Because high schools today expect students to become well rounded, functioning members of the community (proof of such is required in student portfolios) teachers must find a way to give their students the opportunity and the tools to accomplish more than simply learning the content. The students in this class investigate air quality at homes within their community through conducting radon testing. What is important here are the presented components and the goals: 1. Content knowledge (nuclear chemisty); Goal (science content standards) 2. Public Awareness; Goal (content knowledge, literacy and technology) 3. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation; Goal (critical thinking, technology and math content) and 4. Presentation of the data to the community; Goal (science content, literacy and technology) This unit began with content knowledge pertaining to radioactive decay (half-life) using pennies in a lab experiment. Each group started with 100 pennies in a container, shook them for 30 seconds, and removed all the pennies that were tails up. They graphed the number of pennies heads up. What they found was a graph that was similar to a graph of radioactive decay. The next step was to ask students to do thier own research so that they could inform the public about radon through student-made informational brochures. They were given guidelines but were encouraged to be creative. They were asked to find two homeowners (who had to incur the cost of 10.00 for a radon test kit) willing to be participants - the students delivered questionaires (for guidelines) and set up the test kits for the homeowners, collected and sent the kits to the lab for results. The results were sent back to the homeowners and the teacher. The students collected the data and made comparisons and found that some homes tested at very high levels of radon. The final step for the students was to write an article for the newspaper about radon.
I was very impressed with the way this project successfully met multiple goals. Not only was this project meaningful and relevant to each student, it was meaningful, relevant and helpful to their community. I liked that the students' hard work informed, educated and helped their community. The students, later on in life, can take this knowledge and experience with them when they are ready to purchase their first home. I love that the students can take pride in their success (especially when they see their research printed in the newspaper!) This project has truly made the students well rounded, informed and functioning members of their community while they met science content goals along with higher level (analysis, interpretation, critical thinking, problem solving) learning goals.
When I think about the amount of preparation and planning needed for a project like this, I feel somewhat overwhelmed but in the future, I would like to implement a unit similar to this with my students. In the Rhode Island area, similar projects could be done with water testing (we hear in the news frequently about high levels of bacteria in area water) or soil testing (for agriculture purposes). The scope of a project like this could cover topics relating chemistry, biology, environment, geology, social/community issues - it's a great way to show the students how "it's all connected." I can see how a project like this would foster student enthusiam and excitement for science in that each student has the potential to make a positive difference in his or her community.
http://www3.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_teacher.php?category_ID=88&news_story_ID=53669
This article addresses the issue about the need for high school students to meet more than just content standard goals. Because high schools today expect students to become well rounded, functioning members of the community (proof of such is required in student portfolios) teachers must find a way to give their students the opportunity and the tools to accomplish more than simply learning the content. The students in this class investigate air quality at homes within their community through conducting radon testing. What is important here are the presented components and the goals: 1. Content knowledge (nuclear chemisty); Goal (science content standards) 2. Public Awareness; Goal (content knowledge, literacy and technology) 3. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation; Goal (critical thinking, technology and math content) and 4. Presentation of the data to the community; Goal (science content, literacy and technology) This unit began with content knowledge pertaining to radioactive decay (half-life) using pennies in a lab experiment. Each group started with 100 pennies in a container, shook them for 30 seconds, and removed all the pennies that were tails up. They graphed the number of pennies heads up. What they found was a graph that was similar to a graph of radioactive decay. The next step was to ask students to do thier own research so that they could inform the public about radon through student-made informational brochures. They were given guidelines but were encouraged to be creative. They were asked to find two homeowners (who had to incur the cost of 10.00 for a radon test kit) willing to be participants - the students delivered questionaires (for guidelines) and set up the test kits for the homeowners, collected and sent the kits to the lab for results. The results were sent back to the homeowners and the teacher. The students collected the data and made comparisons and found that some homes tested at very high levels of radon. The final step for the students was to write an article for the newspaper about radon.
I was very impressed with the way this project successfully met multiple goals. Not only was this project meaningful and relevant to each student, it was meaningful, relevant and helpful to their community. I liked that the students' hard work informed, educated and helped their community. The students, later on in life, can take this knowledge and experience with them when they are ready to purchase their first home. I love that the students can take pride in their success (especially when they see their research printed in the newspaper!) This project has truly made the students well rounded, informed and functioning members of their community while they met science content goals along with higher level (analysis, interpretation, critical thinking, problem solving) learning goals.
When I think about the amount of preparation and planning needed for a project like this, I feel somewhat overwhelmed but in the future, I would like to implement a unit similar to this with my students. In the Rhode Island area, similar projects could be done with water testing (we hear in the news frequently about high levels of bacteria in area water) or soil testing (for agriculture purposes). The scope of a project like this could cover topics relating chemistry, biology, environment, geology, social/community issues - it's a great way to show the students how "it's all connected." I can see how a project like this would foster student enthusiam and excitement for science in that each student has the potential to make a positive difference in his or her community.